Dear Awaken Cafe Community,

We hope you've had a fabulous holiday season and are awakening to an amazing New Year!

Lately, we have been working hard to acquire capital, equipment, and build out the first phase of our space - the coffee kiosk. The space is now starting to take shape, with the facade nearing completion, framing of the interior walls complete, and with plumbing and electrical underway. We can begin to picture the cafe bustling with all of our friends and neighbors!

We've accomplished a lot this year! To date, we've

• raised nearly $200,000 in capital, with over $16K coming from over 30 CAFE CREATORs and the rest from investments from a diverse group of managing partners committed to the success of this project,
• secured a beautiful space in a great location in downtown Oakland, the "Bay Area's Next Great Scene" (San Francisco Magazine Cover Story, October 2007)
• had three articles written about us before we've even open,
• been nominated for a 2007 Oakland Indie Award and have been asked to host the 2008 award ceremony,
• prepared, demo'ed, and salvaged materials from the old Golden Bull space to make way for the Awaken Cafe,
• worked with the City of Oakland to turn an old, run-down facade into a beautiful storefront,
• joined several organizations including the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the Green Chamber of Commerce, and the Sustainable Business Alliance,
• and built relationships with developers, business groups, artists, community groups, government officials, and fellow business owners working on a green revival of downtown Oakland!

We are proud to introduce you to some new members of the Awaken Cafe team and say goodbye for now to one:

• Bill Gaffney is now working alongside Dan Antonioli in heading up the build out of the cafe. Bill is an amazing contractor, a wonderfully positive person, and known for getting things done. He comes to us with years of experience, including overseeing the build out of all the Café Gratitude locations.
• We'd also like to acknowledge Tom Sepe who created our beautiful signs that are now installed!
• Additionally, Aryana Farsai is doing incredible work creating custom mosaic tile entryways for the cafe. Her creativity and motivation are exactly what we want to manifest!
• Also, Kate Hug joins us in consulting on all things related to making world-class specialty coffee. She has been a part of some of the biggest names in Bay Area coffee and helped set up a home barista training service. She was introduced to us by mutual friends and has already proved to be useful, insightful and fair.
• We must also express our gratitude to the Awaken Cafe family who have been with us since the beginning: our contractor Dan Antonioli; architects Sandy Chan and Peter Wong; Cortt's wife, our Realtor, and now a Managing Partner Shalene Rose Dunlap; Managing Partners Alexander Zendzian; Dale Christensen; Laura Basha Neuhausel; Nick Neuhausel; and Ann Dunlap; our landlord Jesso; Joetta Johnson of Conscious Bookkeeping; our CPA Jonathan Balter; and our attorney William Taylor.
• Sadly, we must say goodbye to Will Grant, who has been our second in command for over a year. We have always been impressed with his intelligence, his ability to be fun and engaging on the job, and to go with flow. It will be hard not to just look over and say, "Can you take care of that Will?" We will miss him tremendously, but support him in his newest endeavor in education! Go Will!
• Finally, we want to extend a special thank-you to Karl Gillick for generously lending us an espresso machine!

With friends like these, we really might be able to change the world!

The Awaken Cafe is set to be a huge success in 2008 and already has generated a huge demand in the Bay Area. We appreciate your ongoing support as we get set to open our doors very, very soon!

That said this is expensive endeavor, and as such we will continue to raise capital for this exciting project in 2008. A project like this takes people like you to vote with your dollars. Although we will continue to pursue a variety of sources for capital, we know that the reality of this world means most of the capital for a project like ours (one that doesn't fit neatly in a box) will come from individuals who believe in the Awaken Cafe.

We once again, extend an invitation to you to become a CAFE CREATOR and get the value that comes from being someone who says, "I want to spend my money at a place like the Awaken Cafe." You'll get 25% in extra value for your purchase and receive a deeper value in knowing you made the difference. We appreciate you for taking the time to consider our offer and deeply thank those of you who take this opportunity to become a CAFE CREATOR.

If becoming a CAFE CREATOR is not for you at this time, there are other opportunities to be involved and we'd love to have you play the role that's right for you! For example, you can help with set up, introduce us to others who might be a resource for us, recommend vendors, simply enjoy our coffee when we open, or even just check in every once in a while. This is a community project, and you are our community!

Many Blessing to you and yours from the Awaken Cafe!

Sincerely,

Kari & Cortt